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Bimini15

Everyday fishermen.

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I grew up living far away from the fishing grounds. I only fished during Easter break and then summer. The rest of the year, I read fishing magazines, rearranged my tackle box at least once a month and had my fishing rod hanging on my room.

 

Now I live on a pond and I pretty much grab the fly rod, a couple of flies, extra tippet and hemostats and go out for twenty minutes most days. I Am fine if they bite and fine if they don't. That is what I mean by an everyday fisherman. I fish more often and I am a LOT more casual about not catching than I used to be.

 

Some time ago I read an article about retirees being generally happy people in great part because of lowered expectations as they get older. But I am only half way to retirement.

 

So the question is... do you find that the more you fish the more casual or less disappointed you are when you do not catch anything? Or Am I lowering expectations already?

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When I was able t get out 3 times a week 1 fish a day and I was happy. If I got skunked, I wasn't happy but I was relaxed because I got out on the water.

 

Today with work and family schedules if I get out 4 or 5 times a year I'm lucky. Now if I don't hook up I get ticked off.

 

If you get out on a regular basis, it's oh well, there's always tomorrow. If you don't get a chance that often, you are upset because you don't know when you will get another opportunity.

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Honestly simply enjoying fishing not catching is the biggest reason I fly fish almost exclusively now. The address I'm at is largely over fished so more often then not I don't catch anything out it's just little stuff. I caught more fishing standard tackle but didn't enjoy the fishing aspect of it nearly as much.

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I've always had the opportunities to fish as often as I wanted. So I don't know what it's like to "need" to catch fish.

 

Fishing is, and always has been, a relaxation device for me.

 

Bimini ... if you are happy to just get out, and catching a fish is just the icing on the cake ... then you have found the "Zen" of fishing.

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Yep it's pure stress release for me. I fish to step away from a very stressful job. I don't worry about catching fish or not catching fish. If I am catching fish I stay longer. If I'm not catching fish I go home early. Don't get me wrong if I had to choose I would take catching over not catching but I certainly don't get flustered or bothered by not catching.

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So the question is... do you find that the more you fish the more casual or less disappointed you are when you do not catch anything? Or Am I lowering expectations already?

 

 

I find that age is the determining factor for me on my expectations/enjoyment. I'm 45 yrs old this year, been fly fishing for 26 yrs now. Started out wanting to catch any fish, then wanted to catch the biggest fish I could. Now...I still want to catch the biggest fish I can, but if I don't, then that's just fine. Enjoying the day is more important than anything to me at this point. My dad was my best fishing friend I ever had and I lost him 20 yrs ago when he was only 52 yrs old. I'm only 7 yrs from the age he died. So every trip I go on now a days I view it as being lucky and I make sure I enjoy it because I never know how many more trips I may have in me.

 

My .02

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Don't get me wrong. I was never the type to get mad about not catching. God, I would have quit a loooong time ago... Fishing has always been about the relaxation and joy of being out there. And the reason why almost exclusively fly fish now is that I tie my own flies, which adds to the overall satisfaction.

 

I am just realizing that fishing for me used to be a production: get everything ready the night before, tackle, cooler, get super early, load the kayak/canoe, unload it, rig it, put it in, spend hours under the Florida sun, then reverse the process and get home completely beat to wash the salt off everything. And I did this while the pond was there, just an afterthought.

 

And now that I don't have the time to do that, I am just as happy with the 20 minute/1 fish trips, whichever comes first.

 

Steve, I am only a year younger than you are. I find it interesting than we have the same outlook on things at the same age. I wonder if everybody goes through the same thing more or less at the same time.

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Bimini, just a thought, but maybe hooking a few fish was more important to you when fishing was a larger production, because you did invest quite a bit of time and effort in it and you wanted to have something to show for your efforts. Now that you just walk out your door any fish you catch is a nice bonus.

 

That's how it is for me anyway, if I fish one of my local ponds I just throw a fly box, hemostats, and tippet in my pocket and don't really care what and/or if I catch anything I'm happy as can be. On the other hand, if I have time and make a trip to a specific trout stream or some water that holds some bigger bass damn it I want to catch some trout or a nice bass lol, but like most people I'm not "enraged" if I don't put a fish in the net.

 

So even though I'm close to half your age I share a similar outlook on fishing.

 

My 2 cents anyway,

 

Brody

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I do it for relaxing... But I like to catch! If I'm not catching, I won't be mad, but I won't be thrilled.

 

Now that I fish a lot more (still have decades before I retire), almost everyday, I can absorb a skunking knowing I will have a lot more chances that week. But because I do fish a lot more now, I'm dialed in on what I need to do. I rarely get skunked anymore unless I head to a river I've never fished (And I have to get pretty far to hit waters I've never fished!).

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I am 63 years young,when i am on the water fishing 6-8 hours in a day i am at peace.I have been tying about 25 years, fly fishing. about the same Whenever i am on the frying pan,roaring fork,the east river or my favorite the Gunnison river,if you know rivers you can tell i live in Colorado.I was on the Gunnison today,caught 6 trout,missed a couple more but more important was fact that i was in my element, the outdoors,the river and catching fish with flies i tie.

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I think it comes down to the effort put into the fishing trip as to whether there is some disappointment. I was fortunate to grow up in a small town with many fishing spots within biking distance. I have always fished as much as I could and when I was wasn't fishing I was thinking about it. I still enjoy fishing period, whether I catch or not.

 

If I'm just driving around fishing ponds and canals for a couple hours it's pretty casual and all about fun. If I get up at 4am, load the boat with gear, ice, gas, and food and drinks, better believe I'm on a mission to catch something. if that doesn't happen it was still great to be on the water, but catching would have been better yet.

 

I drive around locally bank fishing about once a week if I'm not taking the boat out. My wife knows if it's been more than 2 weeks since I wet a line..I'm going by that 3rd weekend or I get cranky from withdrawal.

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i'm 64 and havent been out fishing much this year and it really doesnt bother me that much. other projects have consumed my fishing time but thats life

 

the excitement of catching a fish on a fly i tied died many many years ago. its no longer an event for me

 

tying flies gets to be a little boring so i stop for awhile. i'll pick it back up in the fall. i have some empty fly boxes to fill

 

oh well maybe next year will be better

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I'm in agreement with Steve that age has changed my perspective about catching fish. I still very much enjoy it, but not bothered one bit if I don't. I'll be 61 this month & planning on retiring at 62. I've caught enough fish in my life to be happy just being out there now, and still don't fish as often as I would like, but am OK with that too.

 

Now, most of my fishing adventures are focused on trying different things. You've seen my fly boxes, I don't need flies, but still keep tying them. At a point in time, at least for me, this sport became more than simply catching fish, and can be whatever you wish it to be.

 

Yes, like Norm (flytire), I go through periods where I need to take a step back & refocus, but have never lost interest. smile.png

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